“It is common experience that a difficult problem in the evening is solved in the morning, after the sleep committee worked on it.” In a simple phrase, John Ernest Steinbeck, Nobel Prize winner for literature, contained the fundamental importance of good sleep, not only a pleasant conquest after a long demanding day, but an increasingly indispensable ally, to which we often do not turn due attention.
Fresh fabrics to say goodbye to sultry nights, a sensory alarm clock that simulates the dawn and spreads energizing aromas, sleep on the left side to help Russian to breathe better, melatonin beauty creams: here are some of the tips of Simona Cortopassa, creator of the Instagram page “The Goodnighter” and the podcast “Dreams of gold”, first “Sleep Influencer”.
Simona, being “Sleep Influencer”, sleep consultant, in Italy is still a profession (because for you, such has become) almost at the dawn, but certainly increasing.
“The historical period we are experiencing is decidedly stressful, and it seems that stress does nothing but grow. We are increasingly linked to our smartphone, which with its blue light, always reminds us of the dawn: it keeps us awake and reminds us that we must always be active. Huts a little what it is (or should be) our circadian rhythm. Sleeping in today’s society is a problem that does not affect only the night, Twenty -four.
How was the project born?
“I had been the idea of making something linked to sleep for some time; writing about health, I realized being more and more a theme linked to many aspects. Every time I interviewed a doctor, it proved constantly how sleep had the ability to produce negative repercussions, or extremely beneficial effects on various ailments and diseases. With the advent of Covid, and the subsequent period of the pandemic, I lost an important collaboration. The peculiarity of the moment, in which I did not move a lot and I could not get tired physically, (while I was very stressed because of the uncertain moment), I started to suffer from insomnia. He wanted to be a hymn to sleep.
How much is this disorder “propagate”?
“It is a malaise that is spreading on a large scale, and is linked to bad habits in general. To give you some number (they are official numbers of the IMS – Italian Association of sleep doctors), one Italian out of four suffers from chronic insomnia, which means not sleeping well for three nights per week for three consecutive weeks. It is therefore a chronic disorder. The episodic insomnia contains an even higher number of people. Sleep disorders had increased by 70%. Pandemia, a little because the ailments have increased, a little because consciousness on general well -being has increased, there has been an openness to awareness of how important sleep is “.
What is the question they ask you most often?
“First of all, and this I always want to emphasize it, I do as a” tracker “, I collect information (mainly from medical sources) and I share it, because it is important to grow awareness, but I invite everyone to consult a specialist in important cases. An account is the episodic insomnia, that linked to an stressful period that does not lead you to sleep, and therefore leads you to look for the cushion or the best position, Exam, one thing is chronic insomnia.
A very recurring question concerns the reason why we wake up between three and four in the morning, defined as “the devil’s hour”. In the past, superstition said that that was the antagonist hour to that in which Jesus died (three in the afternoon). From there the doctors began to investigate a more scientific reason: it was discovered so that as our body begins to produce melatonin from the time of sunset (which will then help us to fall asleep), the body stops producing rights around three in the morning, starting the release of cortisol, which slowly should accompany us to the awakening. Obviously this should take place towards the dawn, but if a person is stressed, it produces too much cortisol and wakes up before “.
How is Italy positioned in “Good Sleeping”, in the culture of sleeping well, compared to other countries?
“The United States are always very careful to launch new market trends. For example, for a year, they have introduced” sugar -free “ice cream that” help to sleep “, precisely because with the summer heat, it is difficult to give up a ice cream before going to bed: the lack of sugar, should eliminate the stimulating effect of the compound.
In Brazil, for example, companies are very diligent in making their employees do small “Naps”, Pisolini, during lunch break, as well as in Japan.
But the absolute winners, are the countries of the Scandinavian peninsula: living a lot of the house, they address extreme care to design. They have very expensive beds. Even hybrids, combining for example Memory Foam mattresses, with topper or special bearings. We arrive a little later, but it is a theme that is taking more and more foot. ”
You also have a section dedicated to the Sleep Tourism, to sleep tourism.
“Exactly. In some areas of Italy, first of all Trentino Alto Adige, there is a very strong attention for all sleep and sleep issues. Lots of hotels have a real menus of cushions, sheets and pillowcases (now the one in silk is the greater, cure -all for skin and hair). They ask you how you prefer to find the bed, if with a single duvet, or with separate down jackets. Sleep Tourism is experiencing a moment of great growth: from massages, to light dinner, to herbal tea near the pillow and the spray to be sprayed before falling asleep “.
Speaking of essential oils, which one is better to vaporize on the pillow to better relax?
“Obviously, pleasantness must be the basis, the sense of smell never sleeps, we breathe all night, and having essential oils on the pillow, it goes to influence our body with chemical reactions. In Trentino I discovered the Pino Cembro oil, which they had assured me would have given me an hour of sleep more deep, and in fact, having felt it personally, I can confirm that it releases the feeling of having a decidedly sleeping. Because it recreates, at a sensory level, the effect of walking in a forest, finding contact with nature, having the opportunity to live an exchange with trees, which regulate the heartbeat. “
One last question: some advice to sleep well, or at least better, in the summer.
“Surely refresh the room before going to sleep, so as to avoid keeping the air conditioner on the night, when it is not a great ally. Try to exploit the sunlight, to regulate our biological clock. We depend on the light, the making good escort, helps us to fight insomnia. As regards, instead, the feared mosquitoes, lavender oil, in addition to acting as a relaxing, are an excellent natural repellent. gel mattresses, to be used as toppers.
And if, while we put the advice of Goodnighter into practice to reach the level of the desired good sleep, it should happen to us a sleepless night, no alarm. Indeed, let’s console ourselves, thinking that some three most brilliant people in history, from Leonardo da Vinci to Napoleon, from Margaret Thatcher, to Winston Churchill, up to Nikola Tesla, probably made their best ideas, just during their sleepless hours.
